Lasting apparatus.



B. F. STUBEB.

LASTING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED DB0. 5,1910.

1,029,242, Patented June 11,1912.

Fig. 2.

lll@ TAT@ FFICE.

BENJAMIN F. STUBER, OF GARDINER, MAINE, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOEMACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

LASTING- APPARATUS.

noeasaa Application led December 5, 1910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, BENJAMIN F. STUBER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Gardiner, in the county of Kennebec and State of Maine, haveinvented certain lmprovements in Lasting Apparatus, ot which thefollowing description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, isa specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicatinglike parts in the several ligures.

This invention relates to toe lasting apparatus and particularly to toelasting mechanism ot the type employed in the commercial Chase lastingmachine` In this type of machine the toe portion of the upper is spreadout upon the upper face of the toe embracing wipers and clamped downthereagainst by a device called a retarder which delays, restrains orretards the slipAA ping oft the upper relatively to the edge oi` thewipers as the wipers and the shoe are manipulated relatively torstretching the upper and laying it over the last bottom. There isemployed in cooperation with the retarders and wipers in this type ofmachine a last depressor by which the last is 'forced downwardlyrelatively to the wipers and the gripped portion otl the upper forelicoting the initial stretching ci the upper about the toe end of thelast. rThis last depressor is operatively associated with the retarderfor movement therewith over the shoe bottom into operative position andis depressed thro-ugh the retarder carrier to :torce the lastdownwardly. ln prior constructions such, for example, as one in generaluse and illustrated in the Chase Patent No. 364,088 the toot of the lastdepressor comprises a button or head concentric with its operating stemand arranged to engage the innersole substantially at its edge. Thisconstruction has the obvious advantage that it holds down the edge ofthe innersole and prevent-s said edge from being lifted or rubbedupwardly and crowded backwardly by the engagement of the stretchingupper therewith. rlhis apparatus is well adapted for lasting McKayslices.A ln lasting welt slices, however, in which the innersole isprovided with an upstanding lip or rib near its edge against which theupper is to be lasted and to which the upper and the welt are to besewed ditliculties are encountered in the use of the patentedconstruction.

Specification of Letters Patent.

One impor-.

Patented Julie 11, 1912. serial No. 595,691.

tant objection to that construction is that the button or toot of thelast depressor Hattens down the lip or rib so that the upper cannot beso well lasted and bound against it at the end of the toe andparticularly if the shoe has a narrow or pointed toe, and a furtherdiliiculty is experienced by the welt sewing-on machine operator in thathe can not locate the inseam stitches so well in their" proper positionbecause of the mutilated condition ot the rib and also the rib does notpresent its intended contour to guide the sewing machine operator insewing around the toe and as a result the shoes sometimes have not sogood an appearance as would be the case itthis rib had not been injured.

The object of the present invention is to overcome these difficultiesthereby facilitating the lasting and the welting and improving thequality of the shoes produced.

An important feature of this invention consists in providing a lastdepressor having a foot located eccentrically with relation to itsoperating stem and adapted to project rearwardly over and engage theshoe inside the lip or rib of the innersole. In the illustratedembodiment of the invention the object is accomplished with very slightalteration in the construction of the apparatus now in extensive use.This makes it possible to apply this invention at very little cost tothe owners of the Chase lasting machines. In the illustrated embodimentot the invention the foot or button on the last depressor stem isreplaced by a foot removably connected with the stem and having a neckprojecting rearwardly from said stem to overlie the lip or rib of theinnersole, and

a depending portion formed to engage the innersole at the inside of thelip or'rib. The foot will preferably have an upright face adjacent tothe inner side of the insole rib adapted to engage the rib and form anabutment to prevent any displacementof the rib by the closing movementof the 100 wipers. By making the foot readily detachable, feet havingrib abutments of different forms may be provided for shoes differing inshape as, for eXample,-having wide and narrow or pointed toes.Advantageously the last depressor may have a formation to engage theclamping plates of the retarder and effect additional clamping pressureupon the upper after the initial stretching of the upper duringdepression 1 l0 of the last. This arrangement allows the upper, after ithas been spread out between the wipers and the retarder to be clampedyieldingly with a pressure which will allow the upper to slip slightlyatl any points where it is being excessively strained and thus adjustitself to produce a uniform stretching throughout the clamped portion.The additional clamping pressure applied when the last depressor engagesthe retarder' will cause the upper to be held more firmly during thatportion of the stretching operation which occurs while the wipers arebeing advanced and closed over the shoe bottom.

The invention will now be described in connection with the accompanyingdrawings and will then be pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of so much of the toe lasting mechanism ofa Chase lasting machine as is necessary to show in connection with thisinvention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the retarder and lastdepressor in operative relation to a shoe. Fig. 3 is arverticallongitudinal section through the shoe and through the wiper and retarderand shows the last depressor in side elevation.

The toe lasting mechanism comprises, in additionto a suitablyadjustable' support carried by the frame of the machine, toe embracingwipers 2 mounted for advancing and closing movement under a guide plate4, such movement being effected by a hand lever 5. Reference may be hadto the prior patent before mentioned for fuller description of these andassociated parts. The plate 4 carries a guide 6 with which the retarderbar 8 has al pin and slot connection to permit positioning movementlongitudinally of the shoe. The lever 10 pivoted at 12 is adapted formanipulation under the inclined end face 14 of the bar 8 to rock saidbar about the pivotal connection with the carrier 6 and thereby clampthe retarder down upon the upper which has been spread out between itand the wipers, as shown in Fig. 2. The retarder comprises a tubular rod15 having at its lower end the clamping plate 16, said rod and platebeing arranged to be forced down upon the upper by the bar 8 actingyieldingly through a spring' 18. Within the tubular rod 15 is movablethe stem 2O of the last depressor, the upper to engage the face of theinnersole at the inside of the rib. The depending portion preferablylhas a lateral face 26 shaped in accordance with the outline of theinnersole lip and adapted to form a backing or support for the rib atthe end of the toe. This is very useful in preventing the wipers fromcrowding the rib backwardly or breaking it down. The last depressor also'may or may not have a formation 28 to overlie the retarder plate 16 andlimit the depression of the last. Such engagement with the plate 16serves two purposes. It determines, according to the adjustment of thefoot on its stem, the plane of the last bottom relatively to the planein which the wipers 2 close to overlie the upper. It also applies anadditional pressure to the plate 16 to clamp the upper upon the wipersat the end of the initial upper stretching action which is effected bythe depression of the last and before the final stretching which may beeected by the inward movement of the wipers in overlaying the upper. 1fthe upper is clamped unevenly to any extent at first it may slip toadjust itself to an even tension at all points before the finalclampingrpressure and stretching is effected.

Having explained the nature of this invention and the manner in which itis to be performed I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentof the United States 1. A toe lasting mechanism for welt shoes having,in combination, toe embracing wipers, a retarder to clamp the upper uponthe wipers; and a last depressor having a foot formed to extendrearwardly to overlie the rib of a welt shoe innersole and engage theinnersole inside the rib.

2. A toe lasting mechanism for welt shoes having, in combination, toeembracing wipers, a retarder comprising a clamping plat-e to grip theupper against the wipers and a carrier for said plate; and a lastdepressor movably mounted in said carrier and having a foot with aportion formed to extend rearwardly over and out of crushing engagementwith the innersole rib and a portion to engage the innersole inside therib for forcing the last downwardly.

3. A toe lasting mechanism for welt shoes having, in combination, toeembracing wipers, a retarder comprising the curved clamping plate 16arranged over the wipers, a tubular carrier 15 for the plate, and means14, 8, 18 to actuate said carrier and plate; and a last depressorcomprising a stem 20 movable endwise in the carrier 15, an eccentric 22to operate the stem in the carrier,

and a detachable foot at the lower end of the stem deflected rearwardlyfrom the stem to overlie the rib of the shoe innersole and engage theshoe inside the rib for depressing the last.

4. A toe lasting mechanism for Welt shoes having, in combination, toeembracing Wipers, a retarder to clamp the upper upon -the Wipers; and alast depressor having a Wipers.

5. A toe lasting mechanism for Welt shoes having, in combination, toeembracing Wipers, a retarder to clamp the upper upon the Wipers; and alast depressor having a :toot formed to overlie therib of a Welt shoeinnersole and engage the inner-sole inside the rib and having' a face toform an abutment for the inner side of the rib, said foot beingdetachable to permit substitution of feet having rib-supporting facesformed according to the shape of the shoes to be lasted.

6. A toe lasting mechanism for Welt shoes having, in combination, toeembracing Wipers, a retarder to clamp the upper upon the Wipers; a lastdepressor having a foot formed to overlie the rib of a ivelt shoeinner-sole and engage the innersole inside the rib, and a formation toengage the retarder for limiting the depression of the last relativelvto the plane of movement of the Wipers.

7. A toe lasting mechanism for Welt shoes having, in combination, toeembracing Wipers, a retarder to clamp the upper upon the Wipers; a lastdepressor having a foot to engage the shoe bottom and a formation tolimit the depression of the last relatively to the plane of movement ofthe Wipers, said mechanism having provision for adjustment to vary thedepression of the last relatively to said plane.

S. A toe lasting mechanism for Welt shoes having, in combination, toeembracing Wipers, a retarder to clamp the upper upon the wipers, a lastdepressor having a foot to engage the shoe bottom and being arranged toeffect additional clamping pressure of the retarder plate on the upperafter initial stretching of the upper produced by depression of thelast.

9. A toe lasting mechanism for Welt shoes having, in combination, toeembracing Wipers, a retarder, means for actuating the retarderyieldingly to clamp the upper, and means to depress the last, saidmachine having provision for applying additional clamping pressureunyieldingly to the retarder after initial stretching ot' the upperduring depression of the last.

l0. A toe lasting mechanism for welt shoes having, in combination,actuating means to advance and close the wipers, toe embracing Wipers, aretarder comprising the curved clamping platelG arranged over theWipers, a carrier and actuating means for the clamping plate, and a lastdepressor having a face to engage the clamping plate at the end of thelast depressing movement to apply additional clamping pressure While theWipers are advancing and closing.

l1. A toe lasting mechanism for Welt shoes having, in combination,clamping members shaped to permit the toe end portion of the upper to bespread out between them, means for actuating them to clamp the upper,means for relatively actuating said members and the last to stretch theupper, andV means for applying final pressure after the initial upperstretching during Which the upper may have slipped to equalize thestretching strains of different portions held by the clamping members.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence oi" two subscribing Witnesses.

BENJAMIN F. STUBER.

i/Vitnesses ARTHUR L. RUSSELL, O. BLANCHE HAReRAvns.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of :Patents` Washington, I). C.

